A Paradox
by Kythe42
Summary: Henry Morgan and Emmett Brown seem to keep running into each other in passing over the years. After Dr. Brown runs into Henry yet again he decides it's high time he introduced himself.


Henry Morgan and Emmett Brown seem to keep running into each other in passing over the years. After Dr. Brown runs into Henry yet again he decides it's high time he introduced himself.

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. I'm merely borrowing them for my own amusement.

Author's Notes: This is primarily a Forever story with a Back to the Future crossover and as such the present time period will reflect how things really are today rather than how they are portrayed in Back to the Future II. As far as Dr. Brown's personal timeline goes, this story takes place between the first and the second movie before he gets involved in the events of Marty's future family.

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Henry briefly looked up from his drink as a newcomer entered the bar. He started to look away again after he'd noted that it was no one that he knew from work, but then he did a double take as he realized that he did in fact recognize the man. He was a thin older man in his sixties or seventies with longish white hair and had the look of a mad scientist about him. His clothing really stood out and he looked as if he'd stepped out of the early 1900s. Granted Henry's own style of dress wasn't exactly modern either, but he certainly didn't stand out that badly and the newcomer was definitely attracting a good deal of stares from the other patrons. He had seen this man before a number of times, though just in passing, throughout his long life. At first he'd just thought it was a coincidence. If you live long enough of course you start to see faces that remind you of other people you've known, but the resemblance was far too similar, and he was pretty sure this was the same man he'd seen before during different time periods in London, France, Belgium, Guam, and now finally the United States. It almost seemed as if the man was following him throughout time whether intentionally or not. Was this another immortal that he had yet to be formally introduced to? He thoughtfully reflected how the man always seemed to try to dress appropriately for the times, but that his clothing always seemed a bit off, and never more so than right now. Maybe he was just being completely paranoid and irrational, but regardless he found himself hunching further over the bar trying to hide his face. Henry glanced up again briefly at the newcomer in the entryway and their eyes met and he knew that the other man recognized him too. He looked away again turning back to his whiskey and downed the rest of it and ordered a refill to prepare himself for whatever was to come of this.

Emmett looked around as he entered the bar. It was clear that he had entered the wrong date on the time machine and arrived a full century later than he had intended. He would have to find himself period appropriate clothing as soon as possible, but for now he really needed a drink. He would simply tell anyone who asked about his outfit that he had come from a costume party. As his eyes scanned the various patrons at the bar he saw another man whose clothing looked like it didn't quite fit in with the times, but not nearly as badly as his own. The man turned his head to look at him and as they briefly made eye contact he knew that he had seen this man before, several times in fact, in his travels throughout time. He had noticed this before now, but had always put it off to coincidence or perhaps a family resemblance, but now he was pretty sure it had always been the same man as he looked exactly the same with the only differences being changes to his hair style and facial hair. Could it be that he had found himself another time traveler? Feeling excitement flood him at this possibility, he knew he had to talk to the man and made his way towards the bar and sat down on the empty bar stool next to him ordering himself a glass of red wine. After he received his drink and took a sip of wine he then turned to face the other man and offered him a friendly smile. "Hello, my name is Dr. Emmett Brown," he said extending his arm for a handshake. "Lovely evening isn't it?"

Henry felt his heartrate skyrocket as the newcomer actually sat next to him at the bar and he eyed him warily when he introduced himself, but he seemed friendly enough, his mannerisms were nothing like Adam's, and he took a deep breath forcing himself to try to relax as he shook the man's hand. "Dr. Henry Morgan. Yes it is rather a nice evening."

Emmett smiled again at Henry trying to put him at ease as he sensed the man's nervousness. "I've seen you around quite a few times in passing over the years, and I just thought it was high time that I introduced myself. So what are you a doctor of Dr. Morgan?"

"I'm a medical doctor currently specializing in pathology, though I have a few scattered PhDs in other fields as well," Henry answered finding himself relaxing more sensing that whatever this man's intentions were, that he meant him no harm.

"Ah medicine, a noble pursuit. I'm a scientist myself. I actually consider myself to be a student of all sciences, though quantum physics is my primary specialty," Emmett replied and took another sip of his drink. "I know there are other things we have in common that are probably best not discussed in a public venue."

Ah, so now he was cutting to the chase Henry thought and took a deep breath before answering. "Yes I believe you're right. This is not the best place to discuss such matters. Perhaps we'd better go back to my apartment and talk," he said against his better judgment.

Emmett nodded happily in agreement. "Yes an excellent plan. I'm most eager to discuss quantum physics with you further Dr. Morgan."

Henry raised an eyebrow wondering what quantum physics had to do with anything, but he supposed it was meant to be some sort of euphemism. The two of them finished their drinks and Henry hailed them a cab after they exited the bar. During the ride back to the antiques shop he chatted with Dr. Brown about a myriad of subjects, mostly pertaining to the advancements in medical science over the last thirty years as Henry didn't have much insight into other subjects such as more recent popular culture and technology.

"You live in an antiques shop?" Emmett asked as the cab pulled to a stop and Henry paid the driver.

Henry nodded and led the other man into the building. "I co-own this store with my roommate. The apartment is upstairs."

Emmett cocked his head to one side in thought. "Well it's certainly not what I would have expected and yet it seems strangely fitting."

Henry shook his head wondering what was meant by that comment as he locked up the shop and led Emmett upstairs to the living room. "Please have a seat and make yourself comfortable and I'll prepare us some tea." Emmett nodded and sat down on the couch and he left for the kitchen.

"So does your roommate know about...?" Emmett called out to Henry letting the sentence trail off and hang in the air.

"Yes, he's the only one who does," Henry called back.

"Good good, men like us need a trusted friend and confidant. I myself have such a trusted friend, but he's not currently traveling with me. I do miss him of course, but he's young and needs time to live his life."

Henry returned with two mugs of tea and handed one to Emmett and sat down in the armchair adjacent to the couch. "Yes I know exactly what you mean. There was a time when Abe and I were out of touch, but we reconnected again when he was older. Perhaps when your friend is older you will travel together again once more."

Emmett nodded. "Yes perhaps. I've certainly got plenty of time to wait for him." Emmett took a sip of his tea and savored the warmth and flavor. "This is really quite good."

Henry chuckled. "I take it you've never had a cup of proper English tea before?"

"I have, but it's been quite some time. You really have no idea how excited I am to meet you Dr. Morgan," Emmett said switching gears. "I never thought I'd meet another time traveler such as myself. I'm eager to compare notes with you."

Henry nearly choked on his tea. Time travel? That wasn't possible was it? Under other circumstances he'd likely dismiss the man as a complete lunatic, but he had seen him repeatedly over the last two centuries, and if he wasn't another immortal, then he supposed that time travel was the only other explanation that made sense. His heart started to pound in his chest as he wondered how he was going to pull this off as he knew little about the subject of time travel beyond the work of H. G. Wells, and it had been quite some time since he had read that book. He cringed when he thought of how close he had been to revealing his secret to this stranger. "Ah yes time travel, there's no adventure quite like it."

"Indeed there isn't. So what time period are you originally from? I myself was born in 1920 but I didn't finish building my time machine until 1985."

"I was born in the late 1700s, but I did not begin traveling through time until 1814," Henry replied feeling himself start to relax a little knowing he could reveal such details to this man with little alterations and he would accept it.

Emmett's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "That is incredible! I never would have dreamed that time travel existed nearly two centuries before my own invention. You must be some kind of genius for your time," said Emmett truly impressed.

"Yes well, while I have indeed been referred to as a genius, I'm afraid I'm not the actual inventor of my time machine," Henry said shifting uncomfortably in his seat quickly trying to think up a cover story that would explain his lack of knowledge about time travel and his lack of an actual time travelling device. "You see the inventor was a close friend of mine and he died shortly after inventing it, but he left it to me in his will with instructions on how to use it. I'm afraid I have no idea how it actually works though."

"I see, that is a pity. Perhaps I could examine your time machine? I'd love to see how it works compared to my own time machine," Emmett asked hopefully.

"Ah unfortunately that won't be possible as it's no longer in my possession and I've been forced to settle in this time period. It fell overboard during a bad storm when I was travelling by ship," Henry explained feigning deep remorse.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" Emmett exclaimed in sympathy. "If you'd like I could give you a lift back to your own time period."

"While that is a most generous offer Dr. Brown, I'm afraid I'll have to decline," Henry answered gently. "I've got a life here now, and as much as there are things that I miss about the 18th century, I have no desire to go back."

Emmett nodded. "I completely understand. By the way, what form did your time machine take? I built mine out of a DeLorean."

Henry raised an eyebrow at that wondering how he ever got away with using such a large ostentatious time machine, especially when travelling far into the past. He thought for a moment before answering. "It was in the form of a pocket watch," he said with a wry grin.

"You're joking! How on earth could time travel technology fit into such a small device?" Emmett asked incredulously.

Henry just shrugged and smiled again. "I really haven't the faintest idea. As I said I was not the man who invented it."

Emmett sagged in defeat and finished his tea. "Well I should probably be going. As you can see from my clothing, I overshot my intended destination by a full century."

Henry chuckled. "Yes I can see that. I'll show you out."

"Well it was a great pleasure meeting you Dr. Morgan," Emmett said shaking Henry's hand as they reached the door.

"Likewise Dr. Brown. Perhaps we'll run into each other again in the future."

Emmett nodded smiling. "Yes or in the past."

After Dr. Brown left Henry climbed the stairs back up to the apartment, poured himself another mug of tea, and collapsed in the armchair in the living room. This was certainly a night he would not forget. He was glad to have met Dr. Brown even if it turned out that he wasn't an immortal like himself. For awhile his mind was spinning thinking of all the ways this could have gone terribly wrong if he'd revealed the secret of his immortality before Dr. Brown mentioned he was a time traveler. As he sipped his tea he realized no good would come from this train of thought. He was lucky that things had turned out the way they did and he would just have to make sure he was more on his guard in the future. His thoughts then turned to his current life and he thought of Abe and how lucky he was to have his son in his life. No if given the chance he definitely wouldn't go back in time to try to change things. Despite all the suffering he'd endured through his long life and would continue to endure for all eternity, he knew that if he went back in time to change things, it would mean that he never would have met Abe or Abigail, and that was one thing he knew he couldn't live with. His time with Abigail had been limited, and his days with Abe were numbered, but he would rather die a thousand torturous deaths than have never known them at all.

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Sorry, I know the title doesn't have much to do with the actual story content, but I picked it just because of how much Dr. Brown was always going on about paradoxes. I know that his birth year was never shown in the movies, but the year 1920 was mentioned as his birth year in the novelization of the movie.


End file.
